{"id":3579,"date":"2026-07-14T22:35:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T22:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=3579"},"modified":"2026-07-14T22:35:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T22:35:22","slug":"trial-set-to-begin-for-man-accused-of-shooting-phoenix-officer-8-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=3579","title":{"rendered":"Trial set to begin for man accused of shooting Phoenix officer 8 times"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 Opening statements and witness testimony are set to begin Tuesday in the trial of a man accused of shooting a Phoenix police officer eight times, including once in the head.<\/p>\n

Read more Scattered thunderstorms are expected this afternoon<\/a><\/p>\n

Jury selection wrapped up Monday, with the trial scheduled to start nearly five years after the shooting.<\/p>\n

On Dec. 14, 2021, nine months into the job, Officer Tyler Moldovan and his partner, Officer Zach Johnson, responded to a call about cars doing donuts. Prosecutors say Moldovan was shot eight times during that response.<\/p>\n

\u201cI turned around, I didn\u2019t see my partner,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI sprinted back to where I last saw my partner in the direction of the gunshots, and that\u2019s where I see him on top of my partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moldovan spent months in the hospital and underwent rehabilitation following the shooting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they told me he was shot in the head, I was like, I had no words,\u201d his wife, Chelsea, said in a 2022 interview.<\/p>\n

Moldovan, who was given little chance to live after the shooting, had to undergo daily therapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have therapy every day. I have physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy,\u201d he said in the interview alongside his wife.<\/p>\n

Essa Williams, the man accused of pulling the trigger, is set to face Moldovan and Johnson in court. <\/p>\n

Williams was also planning to shoot Johnson before Johnson tackled him and took him into custody, according to detectives.<\/p>\n

Read more Sheriff provides new details on investigation into Nolan Wells\u2019 death<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen (the suspect) saw you approaching, he actually had Tyler\u2019s gun in the holster and was lifting him off the ground multiple times trying to pull it out of the holster. Our belief is that he was attempting to pull that gun so that he could shoot you, or at least attempt to,\u201d a detective told Johnson a few days after the shooting.<\/p>\n

Williams was a parolee with nine prior felony convictions at the time of the shooting and was legally banned from having a gun. According to court records, Williams\u2019s mother and girlfriend later pleaded guilty to providing him guns, though none of those weapons were used in the shooting.<\/p>\n

What to expect at trial<\/h2>\n

The trial is expected to last several weeks. Prosecutors plan to call Officer Moldovan, other responding officers, detectives, and forensic experts. <\/p>\n

The defense will have a chance to challenge that evidence as testimony continues.<\/p>\n

Though their lives have been forever changed and the road to recovery has been challenging, the Moldovans have been grateful.<\/p>\n

\u201cLots of things that never were supposed to happen did happen, so we\u2019re very, very grateful,\u201d Chelsea Moldovan said.<\/p>\n

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? <\/i>Please click here to report it<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send <\/i>it to us here<\/i> with a brief description.<\/i><\/p>\n

Read more NBA Summer League Film Festival returns to Las Vegas July 16\u201318<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The trial for the man accused of shooting Phoenix police officer Tyler Moldovan is scheduled to start nearly five years after the incident.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3578,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nTrial set to begin for man accused of shooting Phoenix officer 8 times - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=3579\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trial set to begin for man accused of shooting Phoenix officer 8 times - 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